Other Retro Pages

RETRO-SPECTIVE: HOUSEWIFE FASHION

1954 Spring Shoes

Influence Of Short Skirts Is Apparent

Delicately styled closed and semi-closed pumps for wear with the important
dressmaker suits make the big fashion news in shoes for this Spring. They get a
brand new look for the season as rising hemlines create the need for more
decorative treatment of footwear. They point to the mode that will be dominant
for Easter and they hint of fashions that will prevail later for the summer when
the wide open shoes will rise to record popularity. Heels, whether high or
medium are slimmer and more graceful for Spring. The silhouette is longer And
color, in terms of pale tones offsetting dark hues, lend the smartest of all of
the delightfully new touches.

Black More Important

Black is more important than ever this spring —black patent and black
polished calf. Navy is a little lighter, and cool, neutral browns are
exceedingly smart. In other years these colors have been livened with
touches of white —a narrow piping, a little bow, cording or stitching. This
year the popular two-tone effect is handled more boldly.

The trimming is part of the shoe giving a very modern effect of design.
And white trimming in many cases has given way to the new pale off-whites
and beiges which are more subtle in combination with dark shades.

These are the colors which go by such names as parchment, cashmere,
cameo, panama, polished pine, polar bear etc etc. They are all off-white in
various degrees of depth, and the way in which they are handled with the
darker base shade of the shoe is new and different. Often the greater part
of the vamp is made of the pale tone, shirred, pleated or plain, with just a
shell of the basic shoe color. Or it may be a half and half vamp, a vamp of
one color and the back of the other.

Real Attention Getters

Since skirts are definitely shorter, shoe designers have taken advantage
of the situation to create really outstanding attention getters in spring
shoe fashions. With these two-tone shoes, eight button gloves in pale
leathers to match the trim, and-bag to match the basic color of the shoe,
make a very nice threesome in suit accessories.

Another version of the two-tone shoe matches the mood of a town tweed for
the important spring costume. Here again the closed pump is a favorite-with
the new stacked or built up leather heel, slimmer and highly polished. The
newest of these shoes are in the pale anilines, in the honey, ginger or
polished pine shades. Here the contrasting leather is a darker tone, handled
more delicately, in a narrow band of scalloped suede, an underlay, or a
piping or binding of black or a deeper tone of brown.

The beige to brown family is definitely the favorite in these highly
styled city spectators, with honors for advance fashion going to the paler
tones.

Bridging the Gap

For the woman who wants a smart street shoe that will bridge the gap
between the early closed types for Easter and the later wide open shoe which
will follow there is the closed vamp; open back sandal which is one of the
prettiest shoe fashions we've had in a decade.

In front it's a slim-pointed closed vamp with an air of tailored
elegance. The back is wide open in a sling, a halter back or one of the new
fluid asymmetric straps. It's delicate, feminine, new and prepared to go
right on into warm weather.

A new angle on the red shoe story for spring is the combination of red
with dark leathers in effective shoe styles for wear with tweeds, flannels
and fleeces for less formal town wear. The narrowed square toe pump, which
many women like for spectator wear, lends itself particularly well to
combinations of leather.

A panel of red on the vamp of the shoe, extending down to cover the
square toe, is an effective touch on shoes of polished black, navy, taupe or
oxford grey. This permits the carrying of a red bag to add another spot of
color to the ensemble.